Terrible twos???

The last couple of days Brenden has been horrible. He has been kicking, head butting, and even biting. Seriously? What have I gotten myself into? He's throwing wild tantrums and not listening to anything I ask of him. I know this is normal and some days are better than others, but how long does this last. Brenden had one pretty bad day last week, but other than that he's been okay and just throwing little tantrums around dinner time. Does this last a week, a few weeks, the whole year? I just want to prepare myself. Brenden is such a sweet wonderful kid and I want that kid back.

Back on the Potty Training Wagon

We're back on so to speak. Brenden has been doing great this week! Monday went so well, Brenden was completely accident free all day long and I was so proud of him. He's really catching on to this potty training thing. And yesterday was our first day of wearing more than just underwear and Brenden rocked it! Brenden did so well up until it was past bed time. He was just so tired. That's okay, you win some and you lose some. Brenden is still quite young to be potty training for a little boy so every little success is exciting for me. And today he is doing great and going to the potty all by himself. My little boy is growing up!

Potty Training Lull

We were horrible at letting Brenden go potty over the weekend. He hasn't quite mastered going on the big potty yet, so when we're out potty doesn't happen. We have been out all weekend and as a result, Brenden has been refusing to go potty this afternoon and had 2 accidents with in an hour. I was so frustrated and ended this dreadful day with an early bedtime for the little beastly child.

Potty Training

This is the second time that I have tried potty training with Brenden and let me begin my story with the first time we tried. Absolutely Horrible!!! Okay, probably not as bad as other mother's experiences. But in my mind with an unwilling toddler and a teething baby girl at the time, I was totally exhausted and it seemed horrible to me. I decided shortly after Brenden's second birthday that he might be ready for potty training. He had been showing interest in his potty for a few months, wasn't liking diapers, and would ask to go every now and again. I was psyched! I thought he was so ready, and so we did it. I woke up one morning and decided that that was going to be the day. Brenden did great! He went to the potty every 30 minutes and would try to go potty. Only had a few set backs. Then the next day came and he just refused to use the potty. What in the world is going on? This happened for two days and I was so frustrated and angry. Needless to say potty training came to an abrupt halt with both Brenden and I crying in frustration.

I gave potty training a break for a few weeks until I started hearing all of these great potty training stories. Women online training their babies, all of these pinterest boards on potty training, and mom's in our play group potty training and having some great success. I thought, well lets give it a week, prepare as much as I can and start over with potty training. I did a ton of research into different methods of potty training, pinned over 30 different pins on potty training, spoke to many different mom's on what they found to be successful, and helped Brenden pick out his own underwear! I downloaded a few different potty training videos for Brenden to watch, introduced him to a new potty chair, taught him some ASL signs for potty training, and gave him lots of encouragement.

The morning of potty training arrived and I was pumped! I was ready to start potty training again, realizing that it wasn't going to happen in a day, even some places on the web say that it's possible. I'm sure it is, but I wasn't to sure about it. Day 1 consisted of printing out a potty chart, putting on an apron that had pockets for my phone for potty time videos, candy for going potty, and a timer I would set for 15 minutes intervals. The first day was amazing. I had no idea where this boy was coming from. Brenden would go to the potty every 15 minutes and then every 2 minutes for a while and only had 1 accident all day long. It was a horrible accident. We were downstairs after breakfast and drinking milk. Brenden had just told me that he didn't have to go potty. Not 5 minutes later I hear Brenden screaming. He had had an accident in his new underwear on the hardwood floors and had slipped and fell in his puddle. I know a little too much on the disgusting details, but this will be great for when Brenden starts dating. ;)

Day 2 was great, hardly any accidents. Granted we weren't potty training all day long. We would train from the time Brenden woke up at 8 in the morning until about 2 in the afternoon for nap time. Brenden didn't want to potty train after his nap for the first couple of days, and I didn't want to force it and turn him off to the whole idea again. So I was okay for potty training for a few hours a day, it gave me a breather as well. Potty training is exhausting. After that second day, Brenden was okay with potty training all day long. He didn't want to wear diapers anymore. Yay! Thursday was Brenden's first day of being totally accident free and I was so excited. Even during nap time. I had been diapering him up during nap time and leaving his potty chair in with him and so he took his diaper off during nap time and went in the potty, no accidents. Sure, everyday isn't accident free, we're still working on it, but he is doing extremely well. I'm so proud of my big boy!

One thing I'm working on is potty training while playing. Brenden doesn't like to go potty when we're playing downstairs and that's when Brenden typically has accidents which he doesn't like at all. I feel bad for the poor boy. He just screams and cries when he has an accident. Not a good feeling at all. I don't scold him or anything after having an accident. We actually watch the accident video made by signing time. I think it's a great little video for accidents. Their whole line for potty training is pretty great. Brenden is learning the sign for accident, he knows, potty, flush, clean, wipe, wash, candy, and sticker.

I just have to brag and say how proud I am of Brenden and how much I love my sweet little boy. He is doing so well with this potty training and I am so impressed. I never thought in a million years that my little two year old little boy would go from loving diapers to being almost accident free in a matter of days and loving it. Brenden loves potty training! He loves going potty and loves the attention he gets. He loves the stickers. And we use gummy bears for potty time treats. He loves those too. Gosh, I am just overwhelmed with excitement and love. I am just proud of Brenden!!

Potty Training can be a great success and a wonderful bonding experience when you totally let go. Now if I can only remember this on the heavy accident days and when I decide Aria might be ready.

Goings on

It's time to play some serious catch up. Since moving to Virginia I have totally neglected this blog. It's bee =n a busy couple of months, but it has been so much fun getting to spend some serious time together and learn and grow.

December-

• Moved out of our teeny tiny apartment in Idaho Falls. We miss that place so much already.
• We drove to Seattle to spend a couple of weeks and Christmas with my family. We saw lots of family and not as many friends as we would have liked. Brenden got sick the night before we left to drive cross country. 
• Started our cross country drive to Virginia
• Stayed in 3 different homes in 3 different states, and 3 different hotels in 3 different states. 
• Had 4 different Christmas exchanges with family.
• Got Aria's ears pierced. Eek! I know. The most frightening experience of my life.
• Said goodbye to our dear friends in Idaho.
• Aria is 4 months old and is so smiley, but she doesn't like baby food or tummy time.

January-

• Arrived in Virginia
• Aria turned 5 months old and still refuses baby food.
• Blessed Aria in Virginia. Beautiful!
• Took Brenden and Aria to downtown Washington DC. We saw the Natural History Museum, National Monument, site for the new MLK monument, Lincoln Memorial, Arlington Cemetery  and the Pentagon.

February-

• Celebrated Brenden's second Birthday!
• Celebrated my 24th Birthday
• Finished all of my doula certification exams. ALMOST THERE!
• Chris started applying for new jobs.
• Started potty training Brenden and it was a total bust!

March-

• Got our tax return! YIPPEE!
• Potty Training Brenden, Take 2!

Chris- Chris is still working at Sam's Club, but when we moved to Virginia, he transferred to one out here. It's still about a 40 minute commute, but he got a pay increase, so it's okay for now. Chris has been taking a few semesters off from school and just working, saving that money for when we go back to Rexburg for those last few semesters. Chris will start taking online classes come September, so far he's only got 2 semesters left. I hope that's all anyways. Our real hope is that he can take the rest of his classes online and we can just stay here in Virginia. We really love it here! The only problem is that all of Chris' classes required to graduate are not yet offered. BYU-Idaho is always adding classes to their catalog, so Chris is hoping that by the time he needs to take classes, they'll be offered online. If not, there's a possibility that he may be able to transfer to BYU and take the rest of his classes through BYU and graduate online. It's still up in the air as to where we'll end up, but we're hopeful something will turn up. Chris loves it here in Virginia and it's great spending time with family.

Sadie- Sadie has been working diligently to finish her birth doula certification. We'll see who gets done first. The competition is on! Sadie has done a great deal on her essay, read all of her books, and completed all of her exams for her certification, whoot whoot! All that's left is to attend births! It's been a real challenge for Sadie to try and study while taking care of a two year old trying to potty train and a newborn who is now over 6 months old. She spends her days taking care of 2 super cute kids, making some extraordinary meals, creating preschool lessons for Brenden, and keeping up with laundry. Chris and Sadie have picked up Scentsy again since moving to Virginia, as well as Velata. Check it out. It's been fun living with the in-laws and for right now, I wouldn't have it any other way. It's been great not having to cook every night and having some awesome help with the kids. I love watching Chris' parents with our kids. It's nice to see my kids being rottenly spoiled.

Brenden- Brenden loves his little sister so much and you can tell. Aria lights up every time she sees Brenden's face and he loves to try and make her laugh. We tried potty training with Brenden when we first got here to Virginia, and it was a bust. I found myself getting super frustrated and Brenden crying and not liking anything about it. I decided that I was ready this last week and I was ready to give it another try and was hopeful that Brenden was ready as well. Well, Brenden is now a potty training rock star! Excuse me if it's a little too mcuh, but he is accident free most days, asks to go to the potty, and even takes off his diaper during nap time to go to the potty! He even poops in the potty! Brenden loves his underwear and doesn't like accidents. He cries every time. The first time was the worst. He had no idea what was happening and then the poor little boy fell in it and bonked his head. Poor boy, but he is doing so well now. I am so proud of my little boy.  Brenden is now a 2 year old! Where have the last 2 years gone? I don't know, but he is sure a smart boy. Brenden is getting so talkative and I am so amazed by the things that he comprehends. I love it when I ask him if he wants lunch and he goes and grabs his soy milk out of the pantry, along with peanut butter and honey, and bread from the bread drawer. As soon as I'm done making his sandwich, he'll go and put everything away. How did I get so lucky? He's a little smarty and I love him so much.

Aria- Aria is growing so fast, even with the lack of eating any baby food, she is still growing and getting prettier every day. I can hardly believe that she's already 6 months old. She had her ears pierced back in December, she cried so much. I don't blame her, but I felt so bad, but at the same time, I'm really glad that we had them done now rather than waiting. I didn't want them done when she was 1 or 2 and have her pulling and yanking them out, but I didn't want to wait until she was 8 or 9 either. I had mine pierced when I was a baby and wanted to have hers pierced at that time as well. Aria doesn't like tummy time or baby food. She usually cried every time we lay her on her tummy. She is getting better at it though. And she doesn't really like baby food. She'll take it if we give it to her, but that only lasts for a few spoonfuls. I make all of her baby food, just like I did for Brenden. I've tired bananas, apples, pears, lemon, squash, peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, and homemade rice cereal. She seems to like the rice cereal the best, but even that isn't a big hit. I'm open to anyone who has suggestions. Sure, she may not be ready, and that's okay too. Aria started sitting up this week and she's doing so well. She still doesn't roll over, crawl, but I'm sure she'll catch on soon. She likes to stand though, so maybe she'll walk before 18 months. Aria is the sweetest little girl and we love her so much!